A place to share things of benefit to Seekers as we travel through this world. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "What have I to do with this world? There is no comparison between me and this world, except to a rider who stops for shade under a tree and then goes on leaving it behind."

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Ultimately, Islam is about hearts...

Ultimately, Islam is about
hearts. So the buildings..., the shops that you go to, the bank that you
go to are about the hearts that are there... Madinah
is
a city of tanwin, which is a connection that is felt more here than
anywhere else, more than the haram in Makkah or the haram in Jerusalem,
it's about a connection to a perfected human being because we discover
more about ourselves when we are with others
than we do when we are in situations of solitude or situations in which
we are with people that don't really matter because they're on the same
railway platform, etc. Islam is a religion of mu'amalah, of interaction,
of engaging with others. It's not really
a religion for solitarists -- fine you can read books that tell you that
on Mount Uhud a thousand years ago there were people who went up to
live and to worship for months and then came down to pick up some
dates...but that's a particular maqam for a small
group of people. Likewise deep under the haram there are these caves
that people used in ages past to go in to worship for six months before
hajj and found places to do that on their own. That's exceptional and
there is a place for it, and of course the precedent
for it in the Prophet's going to Mount Hira (Allah bless him and give
him peace), but generally, the way of spiritual progress in Islam is
through the anjaman, through the company of others. That's why in the
city of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him
peace) there is so much emphasis on engagement and good character. We
are really influenced by the people around us and our engagement with
them is the basis for everything else and that's why akhlaq and adab are
fundamental.